Concerned about the raise in the number of unwed teen mothers and abortions, 4 Gals N Boys answers your questions on AIDS and the precautions you should take.
AIDS is short for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. What this means is that the body's immune or defence system is broken down. So while a healthy person's is strong enough to fight common illness and bacteria, an AIDS sufferer could fall ill easily. The reason why a person with AIDS has a weak and poor immune system is due to a virus called Human Immunodeficiency Virus or more commonly known as HIV. Being HIV positive doesn't mean that you have full-blown AIDS straight away. In fact, a person infected with it may live for many years and yet appear to be perfectly healthy. But the virus gradually multiplies inside the body and eventually destroys the body's natural ability to fight off illnesses.
The problem is, a person with HIV may not know they are infected and so unknowingly pass the virus on to other people. Statistics from the MInistry of Health show that heterosexual transmission was the most common mode of HIV transmission among Asians since 1991, accounting for 72% of all reported HIV cases here. Most of these patients contracted the virus through unprotected casual sex and sex with prostitutes in Asia and overseas. If you have sex without a condom with a number of different partners, or share needles or syringes with several other drug users, you increase your chances of coming into contact with someone already infected. What happens is that the HIV in the sexual fluids and blood of the infected person could pass into your blood stream during sex through a tiny tear or sore inside the body, which you don't know about.
Condoms are not foolproof either. Only when used correctly do they protect you. And that's assuming they don't break during intercourse! Oral sex does carry risk of infection too. Although infection from oral sex alone seems to be very rare, your infected partner could still pass on the HIV to you if you have bleeding gums or tiny sores in your mouth. The same is true if infected body fluids from a woman get into the mouth of her partner. All the talk about practising safe sex is not just about preventing unwanted pregnancies, or sexually transmitted diseases. It could also save your life. Kissing, cuddling, massaging are all completely safe. But if you have cuts or sores on your hands, make sure that they are covered properly with plasters/band-aids.
So the bottom line is, learn to abstain from having premarital sex and be faithful to one partner when you marry.
Facts vs Myths
Now that you know more about AIDS, let's get the myths and misconceptions straightened out:
You won't get HUV by sharing a drink or utensils.
This is because HIV is only present in saliva in very minute amounts.
Deep or open-mouthed kissing is a very low risk activity too.
There has been only one documented case of someone becoming infected with HIV through kissing - a result of exposure to infected blood during open-mouthed kissing.If you or your partner have blood in your mouth, you should avoid kissing until the sore heal.
You can't become infected with HIV through normal social contact.
So don't worry about shaking hands, using public toilets and swimming pools,or being around AIDS patients who sneeze or cough. HIV is not airborne, water-borne or food-borne. In fact, the fragile nature of the virus prevents it from surviving for a substantial amount of time outside the body.
There is minimal chance you would get infected with HIV when visiting th doctor or dentist.
All health professionals are required to follow control procedures when caring for any patient. These procedures are designed to protect both patients and doctors.
There is a risk of being infected when having a tattoo or body piercing done.
If instruments with contaminated blood are not sterilised clients, there is a risk of HIV transmission.
No you can't get infected with HIV from mosquitoes.
When taking blood from a person, a mosquito doesn't inject blood from any previous person into the body.
How do you know if you have AIDS?
There are no physical evidence that will reveal that a person in an AIDS sufferer. You can't tell by just looking. A person infected with HIV is diagnosed as hving AIDS when they develop an AIDS defining illness such as pneumonia. This happens because the HIV has weakened the immune system to the point where it cannot fight back infection that would otherwise be controlled by a healthy immune system.
Would you know whether you were infected with HIV if you got tested straight away?
Infection with HIV has no specific symptoms. The only way you can find out for sure if you are infected is by taking the HIV antibody test. The test, as the name implies, looks for antibodies to the virus in a person's blood. For most people, these antibodies take three months to develop. With 98% having developed antibodies within six months of infection. Getting tested before the three months period is up may result in an unclear result, as an infected person may not have developed antibodies to HIV yet. So it is best to wait for at least three months after the last time you were at risk before taking the test. What's more important is that you are not at risk of further exposure to HIV during this time period.
What are the first symptoms of HIV infection?
The only way to know for sure is to take an HIV antibody test. For some people, they might experience flu-like illness after a few weeks of getting infected. Only one fifth of people experience symptoms, which are serious enough to require a doctor's attention. That means that for most people who are infected, they will assume that it's a common illness, blaming it on the 'bad air' or 'the bug that's going around' or not getting enough rest. It is only after several years that an infected person may experience symptoms of particular illness or cancers.
Labels: abortions, acquired immune deficiency syndrome, aids, HIV, infection, precautions, unwed teen mothers
